The Goat Keeper's Diary This is an ongoing diary of the happenings on the farm, with some of my own comments on goat management and philosophy of goat keeping.

YEAR 2017 goat keepers diary

Our most recent export to Nepal. All arrived safely and are now in their new homes.

Nepal has become a big part of our activities. Below is a picture of a group of does we exported to Nepal. They are on their second kidding. Boer goats are very adaptable and it took about three months for them to adjust to their new environment. They have been extremely well managed and are highly productive.

Exports to Nepal:This year we have been very busy continuing our relationship with Nepal breeders and officials. In August I spent two weeks in Nepal traveling over a wide area meeting farmers and Government and FAO officials. I was so impressed with the care and the planned introduction of Boer goat genetics to Nepal. Below are a few pictures of the visit to Nepal and a few of the goats that have and are provided the Boer goat genetic pool in Nepal. Also see the special page "Nepal goat exports from Australia". We have a special interest in exporting live Boer goats and semen to Nepal So please contact us if you have any enquiry. email: cadenzaboers@bigpond.comphone +61 429661369 viber​whatsapp

May 30, 2016. Selecting Boer Goats.

For those who use the internet a lot, including social pages, we see some absolutely stunning animals in the show ring, and of course sometimes outside it. Recently it was very interesting to see pictures of a Boer goat in the U.S. that was being prepared for sale. The first picture was the goat in its working clothes. The most that could be said of it was a very hairy average breeding doe in quite good condition. However the next picture showed the doe after it was clipped out very professionally. What a difference! It look great! How disappointed the buyer would be when the beautiful doe they bought gradually turned into the original goat over the coming months. In Australia, while we don't usually completely clip out our Boers for the shows, there is certainly a lot of preparation in feeding and grooming, corrective foot trimming, horn sanding, oiling, washing etc., and some clipping to enhance ennoblement and muscling etc. This is specially so for the big shows.So why am I telling you this. The reason is when you buy a magnificent looking, fat, and highly prepared animal for your herd, you should not expect it or its progeny to necessarily look as good in your paddock. The art of presentation is a highly developed skill and takes a lot of dedication and knowledge. However the animal that may look so beautiful, may not necessarily be a genetically superior animal. Do your homework, look at animals from the same genetic lines in paddock condition. Find out about their fertility, mothering ability, hardiness, correct feet and general productivity. If you do not have the ability to get this information, ask for the EBV's of the animal as this will indicate its genetic value in various traits and not relate this to the individual preparation of the animal. In Australia only Kidplan has official EBV measures, and only a few breeders take the trouble to provide data on all their animals each year. EBV's can only be assessed when comparing all animals from a drop raised under the same conditions. It also links the performance of the genetics to other animals in other herds so that feed and conditions do not bias the genetic worth of the the animal.

February 8, 2016. Bucks, bucks, bucks.We are still assessing the bucks for our own breeding season. Here are a few more working bucks under consideration. We specialize in high production bucks for true meat focused breeders while retaining true to type standards.

Here are our 10 essentials to start your goat breeding business.1. Check out lots of goat farms before you buy.2. Read and learn as much as you can before buying goats.3. Start small and buy good goats from a reputable breeder. The first year is your apprenticeship year...don't rush in, get it right before you get bigger.4. Feed your goats well with suitable feed - ask someone who really knows.5. Provide good shelter from heat, cold, and rain.6. Learn how to condition score so you know how fat your goats really are. A big stomach is not fat.7. Do not be tempted to join your Boer does too young. At least 12 months old and at least 45kg+ at joining. 8. Manage the goat worms, ask someone who knows how and monitor the worm burden.9. Kid down during warm weather, supervise kidding, kids easily die from the cold - learn about wind chill.10. Protect your goats and specially your young kids from predators e.g. foxes, dogs and eagles.

Cadenza Boer Goat Stud

Day old doe kid.

Cadenza Boer Goat Stud was one of the first Boer Goat Studs to be developed in Australia. Commencing in 1996 with a group of animals imported from New Zealand, the stud is now recognised as one of the largest studs in the country. Only the best breeding principles are used with a focus on both the commercial attributes of the animals together with beauty and correctness of form.The 320 acre stud is located near the Gippsland coast about three hours from Melbourne. Currently running approximately 250 breeding stock and 150 kids, the property provides an ideal climate for breeding animals suitable for the development of farmed goat meat products. There is a strong commercial focus in the breeding with recording and assessment of bucks and does according to their ability to grow quickly and maintain body condition. In addition, Cadenza Boers is very successful in the show-ring, with many of the Cadenza stock taking home broad ribbons and promoting the stud with their substance and trueness to type.Cadenza Boers is a member of the Boer Goat Breeders Association of Australia with the identifying stud tattoo code of CA1.

February 5, 2016. Assessing bucks for the 2016 breeding season.Now is the time of year when things are stirring in the Boer bucks. Our bucks are in full breeding readiness with all of them spraying, fighting and riding each other in preparation for the season. We are taking our time going through all of them to select our breeding and AI sires for the season. Our aim is to consolidate the direction of our breeding and to select bucks that will help us towards breeding that perfect Boer goat. We have a fundamental aims, and they are to breed very correct high quality Boers that grow fast and carry lots of meat. Below are pictures of three of the working age bucks under consideration as this years breeding sires. More to come.

February 4, 2016. Export live Boer goats to Nepal. Two more shipments of Boer goats arrive safely in Nepal. Two more shipments of Boer goats were sent to Nepal this month and they have arrived safely and in good health. Exporting of live animals is not for the feint hearted as it takes a lot of time and expertise to provide suitable animals, and to prepare and transport them with the best care possible. All exports from Australia can only be done through a registered livestock Exporter. There is a very strict process to follow and all documents must be in accordance with both Australian Government requirements as well as the importing country requirements. All potential importers will be required to provide an official import permit from their Government , together with the Health requirements for import. Some countries have established goat import agreements with Australia and so this makes things go much more smoothly. Many Governments do not have this arrangement and it may take many months of negotiation to finalise the agreement.

The year 2015 was a busy year for us. Export of semen to Nepal.The focus for the 2015 year was completion of export orders for semen from high performing Boer goat sires, and export orders for high production breeding goats. Our collection of over 10,000 frozen straws from EBV high production Boer goat sires was a major achievement for the stud, and is the highest number of frozen Boer goat straws ever exported from Australia. Our genetics, and genetics from several other specially selected studs, will offer an opportunity to increase productivity of goats in other countries around the world. Below are a few pictures exporting the precious cargo to Nepal.

December 8, 2015. Some does are significantly better mothers than others. Stud breeders should be "removing" poor performing mothers from the genetic pool after each breeding season. Some does carry their kids extremely well, just getting on with it. Some does do it tough, and hardly get the kids through to full term for birthing. Some does are inclined to suffer from pregnancy toxemia or milk fever. My experience is that some genetic lines suffer more from these conditions than others. I can cope with a maiden doe being a bit slow to mother her first kids as there is no doubt some does think this "thing" is from outer space. However lots of maiden does immediately mother their kids even to the point of aggression to nearby dogs (and me) if I try to interfere. This seems to run in genetic lines and is not related to handling. Although I must say my "poddy" raised does often think I am actually the new born kid and want to lick me to death. Some does are really a bit dopey and lose their kids all the time, whereas I have never seen a cow lose her calf. She knows exactly where it is. So as stud breeders we should be selecting for excellence in mothering. At this stud as well as weighing and making comments on the new born kids, we score does at the time of the kidding, on sufficiency of milk, and mothering ability. Below is Cadenza FH0133, a really excellent example of great mothering doe.

December 5, 2015. Just how productive can Boer goats be.We are well into kidding now and the does and kids are doing well. The kids have been very robust when they hit the ground and I think part of this is the does are in very good condition, and they are active by grazing over quite a large area. This means the does keep good muscle tone and this makes for easier kidding. We have also kept molasses mineral blocks available to them all year round and they really appreciate the extra energy during the cold times. We also offer cubes and hay when needed. It is cold here during winter so we try not to let animals lose body condition over winter. Even if they do not put on weight, they boom away when the warmer weather arrives. The above doe shows how good nutrition allows an older doe to keep in good body condition herself and carry four good sized kids to full term. Of course genetics play a part too, and this doe is a very high production doe. A few more pics of the recent Cadenza kidding does below.

October 11 2015. It is a really pleasant job moving the animals with Lucy to help. Here are some of the young bucks moving to a new paddock. Now is the time to select the breeding bucks for the next breeding season as they have all had the same chance to grow during winter. Some have done it tough over winter, and some have bloomed into really lovely bucks. Most people wether most of their males and pick a few bucks early in the season. They then specially feed the chosen bucks to make sure they grow out as soon as possible. In other words the breeders give their selections an unfair advantage. The true way to select bucks is to give them the same chance and see who rises to the top as they are reaching about 12 months of age. We performance record our bucks and have Kidplan EBV's to assist us to choose the best performers.

October 1, 2015. The new kids are hereThe first of the kids for 2015 have landed. Below are some pictures of the first group of kids at Cadenza Boers. These are the result to us preparing the bucks for semen collection at the semen collection centre. It is important to have the semen sire bucks quiet enough for the staff to be able to collect the semen, and for the bucks to be in the best condition to provide top quality semen. This means that bucks are allowed to service a doe or two before entering the collection centre. Represented here are kids by Teddy, Harnie, and Hank. Nice kids, and obviously the bucks were well and truly fertile when we sent them for semen collection!

April 3, 2015. The boys are back...or some of them are.We have been busy over the past few weeks selecting and delivering buck sires for semen collection. At last some of them are home again, and semen is available from them and from our other buck sires. Check out the Buck sires and semen available page for pictures. Here is a little selection below. Unwashed, not trimmed, completely in their "working clothes". All our bucks are performance recorded with the official goat performance recording system "Kidplan". I will put up their EBV's soon.

February 2, 2015. Here are the girls.I have talked about bucks quite a lot recently so I thought you may like to see some of the "girls" here. As you can see they are in their "working clothes" and in the paddock, but they still stand up pretty well against the pictures we often see of perfectly manicured goats. Well that's what I think anyway. Hope you enjoy.

January 27,2015. Difficult kidding for the experienced breeder only.The following UTube video is absolutely first class for dealing with the head back delivery of animals in utero including goats. It demonstrates a calf delivery method but the principle is the same for a goat kid. My experience is the head back position is really life and death for the kid and the dam. When kids die in utero they often die in the head back position and they are very difficult to remove. Believe me. The problem for goats is that it is often difficult to find the head at all, and to try to evaluate whether it is down the side of the kid, underneath the kid through the front legs, or bent back over the shoulders is often very difficult. I try to find an eye socket or feel some teeth as this gives me some picture of where the head is. The head back position is not for the inexperienced. Time to get the vet if there is no sign of the nose in the birth process.

January 10, 2015. Don't be scared, this is just bucks doing their normal thing in the rutting season.The bucks are very much into the breeding season and the hormones are running high. When the breeding season is over, the bucks return to their calm nature and just go about eating. You can see how bucks can lose some serious weight during the breeding season so great care must be taken to ensure they have enough energy to keep them in good condition prior and during joining the does. Sometimes in a mob of bucks like this, will pick on one or two bucks and chase them so consistently that they literally "run them into the ground". If you can run your bucks in smaller mobs this is less of a problem. But if you see a buck being "hounded non stop" you need to remove him with a friend and give them a break for a while. I do not find the bucks become more aggressive to me during the breeding season. However if you have bucks that are spoilt by excessive handling, take care as they may have little respect for you as the "boss". This means they may treat you with very little respect. and push you around when you get in the way. Try to have your bucks quiet enough that they do not run away from you, but respectful enough that they will move out of your way.

January 3, 2015. The bucks are raging-the hormones are high. Here at Cadenza the bucks are run in groups under natural conditions. We do not keep our bucks in small paddocks except for special reasons...e.g. preparation for A.I. or export etc. I thought I would give you an idea of the conditions here and how the bucks are run by including a slideshow of the bucks in their full rut.

December 10, 2014. Youngest kids at play after the big wet. See below.The young kids and their dams were locked up in the shearing shed for over two days while the "big wet" was on......and are they all happy to be out again.

December 7, 2014. Goats do not like the "big wet".We have had some very wet weather over the past couple of days and this poses very serious risks for the goat herd. While yesterday we had 80 ml of rain, today we are up to 70 ml and it is still raining and windy, so we are at least 150 ml for the rain event. Temperature is about 16 degrees now. This means for the past two days the goats have been at risk of becoming chilled to the point that they could easily die of cold exposure. While it was not predicted that we would have anything like this amount of rain, fortunately I had prepared the goats, just in case. Some of the does have small kids at foot, and without shelter these kids would not have lasted long as they would not be able to create sufficient heat to offset the surface area that was being chilled. The bigger kids would have lasted longer, but with the prolonged chilling, many of those would not have made it. In an exposed paddock situation, with the length of the exposure to wind and rain now reaching some 48 hours it is likely that many of the adult goats would also have not been able to keep warm enough to survive.During this wet weather, all the goats here have shed shelter of some type to reduce the exposure to the elements. The heavily pregnant does and does with young kids at foot are contained in the shearing shed, the other does and kids under and around the shed, and the dry animals in other paddocks with some shedding shelter. The goats only graze between the worst of the weather, and the goats locked in the shearing shed need to be hand fed. The does who are still to kid need special attention, for if their blood sugar levels drop for more than 24 hours due to lack of food, they may well abort their kids or perhaps prematurely give birth, or it may result in pregnancy toxemia. While it is not useful to turn goats into "soft" goats who will not go out to graze and wait for the owner to come with the food bucket, there are the realities of the effect of cold and rain on their welfare and survival. Even with the level of shelter provided, rain events are stressful for goats. When it passes, we will take careful inspection of all the goats over the next few days watching for signs of labored breathing (pneumonia), scouring, lameness, and goats not integrated with the herd.Goat keeping is a special responsibility. I see the sheep next door and the cattle "out the back" coping with this weather seemingly without much effort. One of the main differences is that they carry fat over their back and this helps to keep them warm. Goats have little fat over their back and so they feel the effects of cold and wet conditions. However when the summer comes the tables will be turned. Even on the hottest days, (with the exception of very young kids who cannot cope with being exposed to very hot sun) the goats just keep eating and lie around under the trees as if they are very much enjoying themselves. See below for the wind chill chart. This only includes wind speed and temperature (F)......can you imagine how including being wet as well adds to the chill factor.

November 30, 2014. Keeping an eye on the kids for problems. Secondly the hormones are rising in the bucks.We are still kidding here with one or two does kidding each day. As it is warm, the kidding is much easier and the kids have the best chance of survival. It is important to keep an eye on the other kids to make sure all is well. Once the kids are a few days old, our experience is that they are quite robust and it is quite rare to lose a kid once they are strongly bonded to their dam and know how to follow and find her. When kids are a few weeks old they are starting to eat with their mothers and at this time due to the change to their diet they may have a little scour. If they are still well we do nothing and they soon get over it. It is quite rare but if they seem unwell, then we treat for scours. The main problem at this time of year is grass seeds in does and kids eyes (and really in the whole herd)....so keep an eye out for closing eyes with moisture coming from the eye. We check the eye and remove any seeds and then use an ointment Orbinon to sooth and treat any infection.

The Bucks are starting to feel that breeding season is getting close and there is a lot more buck activity, checking the pecking order by challenging each other, spraying, and making very bucky noise. This is the time when bucks can lose a lot of weight as they forget to eat when the hormones are running high. So keep an eye on them and split them into smaller groups if you can. Sometimes they gang up on one buck and chase and jump on him until he is exhausted and so tormented that he will be at risk of illness or malnutrition. You need to remove a buck like this to a smaller group where he has a chance to recover.

It is not only the older bucks that are feeling "their oats" even the kid bucks are starting to chase the does around making their whooping noises. It is quite a difficult decision as to when to remove these buck kids as if they are too small they suffer a significant setback by weaning early. But if they are fertile they may impregnate the does. Once buck kids are about 25kgs they are likely to be starting to be fertile so it is time to wean them and remove them from the kid drop.

November 25, 2014. In a perfect world......does and their udders.Over the past few days some of the more mature does have been kidding and while they slip those kids out pretty quickly and know what to do, they do have a few other little issues to deal with. While it is not common, sometimes mature age does look for a kid to nurse for the few hours before they have actually birthed themselves. This is where the word "kidnapped" comes from, as the does will take newborn kids from other does if they get the chance. Sometimes you will see does fighting over newborn kids, and it is not good for the kids to be the subject of such affection. Occasionally you will see a doe with a group of new born kids, and one or two other does trying to get them back. This is not good for a stud as every kid needs to be able to be genetically identified with its correct sire and dam. A maiden doe does not really stand a chance against a big mature doe and will usually have her kids stolen and just look on despairingly as they are mothered by the intruding doe. The lesson in this is that it is better to both join, and kid, maiden does separately from the mature does as it is unlikely that a maiden doe will kidnap new born kids.The other thing I wanted to mention is the tendency for some older does of some genetic lines to have bigger than normal bags of milk when they kid. Generally this is promoted as a good thing as the doe will have plenty of milk for the kids. I would like to oppose this view for while I am a big supporter of good milking does, it is not a good thing if a doe has an udder that is so big it hangs down below the hocks. When you see a Boer kid trying to find the teat, it usually looks for it at a higher level than itself. The does who have low hanging udders make it hard for the kid to find the teat. If they happen to have a blind extra teat a little higher up the udder this is the teat the kid will try to suck for milk. Without assistance, and specially if the weather is bad, these kids are at high risk of starvation as the teat is not in a good place for the kid to find. The other problem with these big udders is that often have swollen teats that are very hard for the newborn kid to suck. Some does have poor attachment of the udder and this results in the doe carrying a low udder that is not necessarily due to her having a lot of milk.Big udders at kidding are also more likely to result in mastitis as they are more likely to be damaged.As a goat breeder it is up to us to breed the does that can easily manage the birth, bonding and feeding of her kids with the least intervention on our part.

November 12, 2014. Boers personality.....they never cease to amaze me. Last evening I was checking the kidded does to see if there were any problems, especially with the newer kids. One doe who kidded about 5 days ago had obviously "misplaced" one of her kids. She had one kid with her but was looking for the other as she knew she had two. (Some does are pretty numerically challenged, and often can't remember they have two kids, at least for quite a while.) At this farm all the does and kids voluntarily come home every night and sleep in a smaller paddock around the shearing shed.To continue....the doe went back into the bigger paddock and went looking for her kid calling for it and trailing its twin behind. I decided to go looking for it too making the assumption it was asleep somewhere in the long grass. I went round and round the paddock and could see no sign of it. Eventually I ended up higher in the paddock on the top of the dam bank where I could get the best view of the paddock.Some distance away, I could see the doe still looking for and calling her kid. What happened next was the amazing bit. The doe came across the paddock directly to me, stood right next to me on the bank wall, looked at me, looked across the paddock and bellowed loudly for her kid. We stood together on the bank wall for some minutes looking for her beloved kid. While this doe is not wild she is not particularly friendly to me. However this little incident demonstrated the unspoken bond there is between a goat keeper and their goats. This doe was clearly, in goat language, asking me to help find her baby. I found this extremely touching. Some time later I found her kid, it had joined some does in the adjoining paddock and had come home with them. I picked up the kid, returned it to her welcoming mother. We will now go back to the the original arrangement between this doe and myself. We will be slightly aloof, but underneath we both know we have an endearing bond.

November 7, 2014. The realities of kidding....don't wish for too much.I hear lots of people, especially new to the industry, wanting triplets and quads so they can build up their herd more quickly, or to make more money as they have more to sell. Here is the reality. Unless you have lots of people - power to attend all births, you will lose many kids if you have many triplet and quad births. Here are the results of the kidding here so far. Stats are either born dead or died soon after from birth complications. Of 44 does to kid so far, 1 doe had quads, 13 does had triplets, 20 does had twins, 10 does had singles.Here is the reality, quads 3 live kids and 1 dead kid triplets 24 live kids 15 dead kids twins 37 live kids 3 dead kids singles 8 live kids 2 dead kids

I am full time on the farm and keep an eye on the does especially if I know a doe is going to kid. By that I mean I will go to the paddock a number of times a day just to check that does are not in trouble, and if I happen to be there at the time of the birth, I may stay to check all is well. When kids are born, I take care to notice if the kids drink and if not I will either warm some colostrum and give the kid/s a bit of a warm drink and then they inevitably find the energy and motivation to find the teat. Alternatively I bring the doe to the shed and assist the kid to drink. If the weather is very bad I will organise the does to kid in shelter i.e. in or near the shearing shed.Here, the main reasons kids die is either they take too long to be born and are too stressed, or drown in birth fluids, or they are born backwards and drown in the birth fluids as they start breathing when the umbilical cord is broken and their head is still in the birth canal, or kids are born in their sack without the sack breaking when the kid hits the ground and they drown or smother. The risk of drowning in fluids or in sack or cold stress is much higher in triplets and quads as the kids are much smaller and the dam has a lot more to do and may move a little from one spot as she produces more kids and some are not so well attended to when they are born. Occasionally a kid will be born weak or dead from some other reason e.g. damaged umbilical cord in utero, or result of virus or bacterial infection etc. but this is rather uncommon. Kids born at night are at higher risk as it is colder.

If you have enough person power to supervise each kidding from beginning to end, you will save almost every kid. If a kid is coming out backwards you see the back legs instead of the front legs and you get it out fast so it does not drown. If you see whopping size legs coming, the kid is probably a single and you can assist the doe to kid so the process is faster and not so traumatic for the kid. If the doe delivers multiple kids, each kid can be cleaned and warmed and made sure it has its first drink.

For me triplets and quads are undesireable. I find it stressful to see dead kids, and multiples of more than two are by far the most likely to die. Twins are just perfect as they are a good size without being too big. The doe can feed them and look after them without trouble, and they do well with a sibling to sleep with. Triplets are a problem even after they are born, as not many does can successfully raise triplets especially under normal paddock conditions. However if you are the position to give extra feed and care to the doe and her multiple kids, you must still watch for damage to the teats of the doe, and to make sure all of the kids are receiving sufficient milk to survive. You have to decide what type of farming you are undertaking so that your expectations are met. However you must take care not to just believe all you read about multiples being good, the reality may be quite different on your farm.Happy kidding.....I still have lots of does to kid.

October 30, 2014. Still kidding....ouch it has to hurt.Yesterday one of the four year old does was kidding and I happened to be near to her at the stage where two big front legs were visible. The doe was pushing pretty hard as I could see this was a big kid. She would have delivered this kid no problem as he was correctly positioned and she was getting there. Sometimes if the doe is quiet I give a little assistance by pulling on the legs of the kid so the delivery is quicker. I decided to give her a bit of a helping hand and pulled on one leg first. This kid was so strong he immediately pulled his leg right out of my hand and did this several times before I could get a better hold. Note: when pulling kids do not pull straight out towards the tail, but pull downwards towards the hocks as this is a more natural position and is easier on the doe.Back to the action. This kid was delivered quite quickly and the doe was pretty pleased to have him born. She cleaned him up and while he looked a bit "shell shocked" he was fine. A big kid like this gets a lot more squeezing in the birth canal than a smaller kid, so don't be surprised if they need a little time to recover from the process. Of course this is why big single kids are quite often born dead, as the birthing time is longer and more traumatic for the kid. He was a big kid so I was really surprised to see the doe was preparing to deliver a second kid! She did so and delivered another big kid but a doe this time. This kid was just about jumping out of its skin and demanding milk immediately. I often find the second kid gets an easier birth as everything in the birth canal is prepared by the earlier kid. The doe cleaned them both up and fed them and all was well. I weighed both kids, the buck kid was 5.5kg and the doe kid 4.5kg.That is a big effort for a paddock fed doe. For those who are interested, the sire of these kids is Koos. You can see pictures of him on the buck page.

October 15 2014. Don't invite your friends around to watch while does are kidding.Just another note on kidding while it is fresh in my mind. The above is true because strangers and strange voices will often put a doe off kidding, so please keep kidding time private and don't plan to go away or have a party at your place when the does are due to kid. Here is an example of what can happen. Today, at least so far, was not a great day for kidding. First thing that greeted me when I check the does this morning was a newborn dead kid, no mother nearby and not cleaned or cared for . Not a great picture of a caring dam and she will be noted for one more year. If she does it again, I am afraid it is sausages for her.....and I don't mean she will be eating them! She was a maiden so I will give her another chance. And also to be fair to her it was a single big kid (4kg) and was probably an exhausting and painful delivery.The second thing that greeted me was a doe who was obviously about to kid as she had separated herself away from the herd, but she seemed very restless, so I took a look. There was a problem, as there was a head sticking out of the doe but no feet and the kid looked pretty dead to me. What to do. The doe is an experienced mother and fairly quiet, so I took a minute to prepare myself by cleaning and disinfecting my hands, and then put my hand in to investigate. No legs even close to the head that was sticking out, however I could feel another head and a set of front legs in a sack close behind the poor exposed head. Obviously they could not come out together and the kid with its head out was not offering any feet so I pushed her head back into the doe, found the second head and legs and pulled that kid out, and then went back for the original kids legs which were much easier to find with the second kid out. The first kid was not well after having its head hanging out of the doe for some time before I got there. Not sure it will make it. However after cleaning up these two, down went the mother and immediately had another kid no problems, and a few minutes later, she got down again and had a fourth kid. Obviously there was a crowd of kids in there and they were in a hurry to get out! Except for the first one they are all well, and have drunk and will be o.k.

While I was helping with this doe, I noticed another doe cleaning up what appeared to be a red kid. When I took a closer look it was not red it was stained brown with its birth waste before it was born. This is usually a sign of kid in distress and delayed kidding, however this kid was up and looking for milk from the doe and all seemed ok. However all was not o.k. and the doe was obviously going to have another kid as she kept getting up and down and pushing, but nothing was happening.So, for the second time this morning, I prepared myself, put my hand in the doe and could only feel the top of a head and no feet and there was lots of very brown mucus. There is no question, the kid must come out or the doe will die. So I lifted the head so that the nose was pointing to the opening of the vagina, found one of the legs that was folded backwards, hooked my finger behind the knee and straightened it out toward the vagina, did the same with the other leg and then pulled the kid out. It was very dead and swollen and had obviously died some time before today. So this doe was very lucky to have a live kid at all, and lucky I was there to help get the dead kid out. She is a great mother and didn't seem to be put off by a dirty brown kid, has lots of milk and not had a problem before. I used uterine pessaries and antibiotics for both does to help reduce the probability of infection. I am confident they will be fine.These two problems are quite rare in kidding but as in all pregnancies and specially multiple birthing, things can go wrong and it is important to keep a close eye on the does. While it wasn't the best mornings kidding, the does are all doing well and most of the kids are fine.I guess the moral of this story is to develop knowledge about what is normal when does are kidding, and if there is a problem deal with it either yourself or seek veterinary assistance sooner rather than later. Good luck with your kidding. Pictures of the kids soon. About 60 of them so far and quite a few does to go.Bring on the warmth, it is so much easier for the kidding does and newborn kids when it is warm.

October 15 2014. When does are kidding, everything else stops!Our first kids are now several weeks old and really booming along and really require little attention. Sometimes they do something really stupid like put their head somewhere it shouldn't be. But overall they have been no trouble. However it is my experience that the first few does to kid from each group are the ones that cause most anxiety for their goat owner. Remember I talked about signs of iodine deficiency. After the remainder of the does were treated with Lugols iodine, there is no sign of goiter in the kids now.The second group of does have "hit their straps" and dropped their kids quite quickly and unfortunately during the worst weather we have had for some time. I like does to kid in the paddock and then bring them in if the weather is going to be poor. However sometimes you just do the best you can when the weather is a high risk to kidding does. Last Monday was one of those days and nights. Day temperature was only 12 degress and over an inch of rain. So every corner of the shed was filled with kidding does with only one doe having a really tough time. This doe was holding two kids and a mummified kid and did not appear to have the right "mojo" in place to really spit them out so I had to go in and get them. The signs that all was not right was that she had all the signs of kidding e.g. separating off from the herd, talking, mucus and restlesness. However the warning signs were that she did not really start to push the kids out after several hours and the mucus was a brown colour instead of the usual clear mucus. The result one live kid and one that didn't make it, and a really unwell doe. She has come good now but there is always a question whether she will be fertile for next year after human intervention like this.The rest of the does popped out mostly twins, some triplets, a couple of sets of quads, and a few singles......all doing well and finding their place in the goat world.....i.e. you cannot drink from any doe you like or you will get thumped! More soon.

October 4, 2014. Not all does are equal! Do you remember me talking about this doe with the brown behind in an earlier discussion on colour. Well, we recently weighed all the does who are not heavily in kid at the moment. This doe was the heaviest of all of them weighing in at 91 kgs. That is a heavy doe! She is not hand fed and has just boomed away on the good paddock feed this year. It is worth weighing all your animals from time to time as it is surprising who are the lightest and who are the heaviest goats in the herd. Her dam, sired by Ginger Meggs, is the daughter of a Junior National show winner (These are pure Nico Botha genetics). Her sire is Terraweena Lucas from an AI program here.

September 19,2014. Boer goat semen arrives in Nepal. Recently we sent a large shipment of Boer goat semen to Nepal. The aim of the semen is to improve the meat producing capabilities of local goats there. A big thank you to all those involved in making this a successful export including Roger Carmody and staff at Riverina Genetics, Craig Maine and staff from Gene-movers, Colin Ramsay, staff from DAFF and other Government officials, personnel from FAO and Livestock services Nepal. Also thanks to the bucks who "contributed willingly". These included our own bucks, Bart, Hooper, Hoss, Koos, and Rock. Above is the tank with its seal attached by DAFF Biosecurity just before shipment to Kathmandu, Nepal.

September 19,2014. Even more on the iodine deficiency. Yes, it is pretty clear now that there is a slight iodine deficiency this year. Recently, twin doe kids were born with slightly enlarged glands either side of the neck, just under the jaw. No doubt about it. The kids were full term, quite strong, full coat and except for the slightly swollen glands, no other sign of iodine deficiency. The dam had no sign of iodine deficiency at all.These "little eggs" either side of the throat should not be confused with the enlarged saliva glands that kids get as they grow, especially the fat kids. They can be wrongly be diagnosed as iodine deficiency, so ask a vet if you do not know the difference. Happy kidding.

September 6, 2014 More on the iodine deficiencyJust a follow up on the newborn triplets with goitres. They were full term kids weighing 4.5kgs, 4kgs, and the doe kid was 3kgs. They had full coat and attached umbilical cords etc. I offered lugols in water to all the goats and none of them was the least bit interested. None of the other newborn kids or the does had signs of iodine deficiency, they had not been heavily fed on Lucerne or other goitregenic feeds......so what do I think was going on. In reality I will probably never know unless there is a further problem with newborn kids. However it is worth while considering that this was a maiden doe, the total weight of the kids she was carrying was 12.5kgs and she probably had at least 5kgs of birth fluids etc Perhaps it was just an individual doe who ran low on iodine at a time when she was most vulnerable. When does are grazing they can choose amongst the plants available and for example cape-weed is apparently goitregenic. The doe has recovered from the kidding and all is well. Even though overdose of iodine is just as bad as underdose, in this area we are sandy loam sea area and iodine is in rather short supply in the soil so we can give a small dose of iodine without risk of overdosing. Check with your dept of agriculture for maps of deficiencies in the soil in your area. It may help the management of your herd.

August 30, 2014. Iodine deficiency affects kidding.Kidding has commenced at Cadenza Boers, and except for more triplets that I wanted, the does have kidded well and the kids are healthy and thriving. Just recently a young doe kidded while I was away. She had triplets, two big buck kids and a smaller doe kid....all were dead, but the doe had cleaned them up and I had assumed that they had either come out backwards and drowned in the birth fluids before they were expelled, ot they were born with the membranes covering their mouth and nose. (As the weather was warm and sunny, they would not have died of cold before they were observed). These two things are not uncommon in goats, particularly when they have multiple kids. However, this morning I was checking the dead kids as they seemed perfect and I was just looking to see if I could see anything obvious that caused their deaths. To my surprise all three had enlarged goiters. This was probably the cause of their death as lack of iodine results in weak kids. Often the doe kids are not viable (they need more iodine) and there is a marked difference in the number of buck kids born compared to doe kids. Other symptoms are, lack of, or reduced covering of hair on the body in new born kids. Iodine deficiency is not a usual problem on this farm however we have had a rather exceptional autumn and winter and this has resulted in fast growth of feed. So perhaps this is the reason for the deficiency. It is easily fixed. If it is not urgent, put out mineral blocks that contain iodine. I will act more intensively than this, and drench the goats with lugols iodine. It needs to be diluted in water but the dose of lugols is 1ml per goat. If you are unsure whether to drench with iodine, when the goats are yarded or come home for the night, put out buckets of water with some iodine added. The goats who need iodine will seek it out and drink. However, iodine is destroyed by sunlight, so you must put out fresh buckets at the time the goats are around.Happy kidding.

July 8,2014. Kidding is coming for the 2014 drop.The first of our kids is due in approximately six weeks. So what are the most important issues for us here at Cadenza Boers. The first is to condition score. The does must be in good condition to produce enough milk and to have good nutrition for the kids before they hit the ground. Do not, as some people recommend, reduce feed to your does a couple of weeks before they are due to kid to get smaller kids....you are likely to cause pregnancy toxemia and have weak kids. If does are carrying multiples, especially triplets or quads, she may not be able to hold enough good food in her rumen to supply both her and the kids nutritional needs. Kids take up a lot of room in the doe....it is not unusual for triplets to average 3 to 4kgs each, plus all the birthing fluids. This means a heavily pregnant doe may be carrying around more than 20kgs of kids and fluids. A human mother-to-be carrying this "load" would probably be under intense medical care at this stage of her pregnancy. For goats, the rumen is restricted by this extra load and unless well fed, the doe may lose weight very quickly drawing on fat reserves from her body to keep her and the kids alive. If I see does who are clearly very heavy in kid and struggling a little to keep up with the herd, I bring them to a smaller paddock and provide more nutritious food. Of course it is also very bad for a doe to be very fat and under exercised as this may cause pregnancy toxemia and problems kidding.Condition score 3 to 3.5 is ideal.The other important things to do at about six weeks out, are to vaccinate with 3 in 1,(we use 3 in 1 with B12 and selenium because this area is deficient in these minerals). Check feet as a lame goat uses a lot more energy and has a tendency to sit down a lot when it should be grazing, drench goats if necessary, provide iodine if you are in iodine deficient country, and generally start to take a little more care about nutrition and shelter for the does.

June 30,2014. What should a buck look like.I see lots of pictures of show bucks and supposedly stud bucks on various web-pages and facebook etc. I often wonder how someone new to the industry knows how to assess these bucks from their pictures. One of the fancy points that is being promoted is bucks with "pig-like" behinds. However when you look carefully, many are an illusion. Look carefully at the buck above. He has a good behind, but it is not a "pig behind". So what is the difference.The "pig like" behinds are very short from the top of the rump to the pin bone and they often slope sharply. They then often lead to a steep cut-in to the point above the hock. This shortens the rump muscles and gives an exaggerated appearance of extra muscle in the rump.When you look at the buck above (Tony) he is long from the top of his rump to the pin bone, and the muscle goes a long way down his leg. This gives lots of meat and lots of room (if he was a doe) to hold large kids without stress.The other obvious point to look at in some of these "show buck" photos specially where they are standing like dogs at a show, is the noticeable lack of depth of the chest. Bucks should be deep in the chest as that is where their strength to push and fight is built. The other reason why it is important to be deep, is that this is where the lungs, heart etc are contained. Have a look at Tony above. He is deep in the chest and has capacity plus for all his internal organs, as well as having great meat carrying capacity.So next time you are admiring a meticulously prepared and groomed show buck, look through the fancy details, and look for his power to improve the breeding stock in your herd. Otherwise you will be forever condemned to follow the "fashion" look at the time.

June 9, 2014.Goats are such inquisitive creatures. No wonder they get into trouble, especially when they are in a boring paddock, or not well fed. Unlike sheep and cattle who will often just give up and die in an unsuitable paddock, goats will usually do their best to find better food. Try to give them logs to jump on, trees to lean on, or if necessary man made amusements. Don't forget to provide dry hay on these cold and wet days, and make sure there is plenty of shelter for everyone. It is hard to keep weight on when it is so cold. If in doubt, try living out in the paddock for a couple of days :)

June 6, 2014. What should a Boer doe head look like?This is my idea of a very beautiful Boer doe head. It is very feminine but there is a strength about the mouth and jaw that tell you this is a very strong substantial doe. I do not like narrow pointed mouths no matter how rounded and spectacular the head is. The role of a doe is to have capacity to carry her kids, plenty of milk to rear them, and lots of bone and strength to allow calcium to be drawn from her bones without turning her into a matchstick. The femininity and strength of the head tells you a lot about the quality of a breeding doe............and then the whole beauty of a does head becomes evident.

June 6, 2014 Should you cull miscoloured does?It is not well known that the colour of the Boer goat is actually based on the belted gene. That is why we aften see color down the shoulder and legs in front and colour on the rump or legs at the rear. Sometimes there is just a brown tail at the back. Sometimes two standard Boers will throw an almost completely brown kid or it may even be completely brown. Sometimes the kid is almost completely red but there is a thin white line in the middle area. This doe above shows some of the variation seen as a result of the belted gene affecting the colouring. Would I cull this doe for colour? Not a chance! She is a beautiful doe, she has had a number of kids and they are all normal standard color. For more information check out the scientific paper on genetics in "The Serious Goat Breeder" page of this website.

May 29, 2014 A recommendation for wethering bucks.We carry quite a number of buck kids on farm until we are able to select the best of the drop. One way we do this is to quicky wether bucks from the bloodlines that have not performed, and those kids that have a conformation fault, colour or teat fault etc. These kids are wethered from about 4 to 6 weeks using rings and applicator. This method causes us no problems at this age and the kids seem to get over the event very quickly. From there we wether the bucks in small groups as it becomes clearer who are the better animals. It is these later bucks that cause more concern to ensure their welfare in castrating them.Once the testicles are well developed, the small rubber rings do not easily fit over the testicles and if you force them through the ring, the bucks are very uncomfortable for several days. They often lie around, will not eat, and are generally depressed. At the other end of the procedure, as the testicles wither and atrophy, this is high risk time for fly attack, and this is extremely disturbing for the animal. Goats will not allow flies to settle on them in any way and will run around endlessly to prevent them doing so. If the goat becomes fly struck then its life is at risk and it must be attended to immediately.So what do we do. Other than surgical removal of the testicles, we have tried all of the methods available to wether bucks. Here is what we have found. Very early use of rings seems to cause limited distress to the animal. Use of rings for older animals causes considerable pain and distress. Use of rubber banding (using a strip of tubing with a metal clip) caused extreme pain to the goats and they were very miserable for quite a long time.The best method we have come across to wether goats is the method called the Burdizzo method. This is a specially designed metal clamp tool that is applied for several seconds to the cord of each testicle in turn This is really difficult for the the operator as the goats yell and jump around as you might expect. The tool operator is immediately aware of the pain they cause the animal as the spermatic cord is crushed for about 10 seconds. There is no doubt it is extremely painful and this is really tough on any breeder who has compassion for their goats. However, while the pain is intense for the immediate application of the device and for a while after they walk stiff legged. We have not seen goats go off their food, or lie around for days after the procedure. It does take a bit of getting used to but if you really care about your goats, wether early, or if you have to wether later use a Burdizzo. Please note that the Burdizzo method is recognised by veterinarians as the most humane method of castration.

March 26, 2014Our buck Barney has been sold.We are sorry to see him go as he is such a gentleman. Barney is soon to go to a new home, where he will get the chance to do what a buck is born to do, spread his genetics within the herd. Not many bucks from here make it to his level, and we are sure he will offer his new owner a great new genetic line.

March 19, 2014. The Buck effect. It is well known that does will begin to cycle if they have been separated from bucks for some time, and they can neither see or smell them. When the bucks are then introduced to the does, this stimulates the does to cycle, often even outside the normal breeding season. Sometimes they will even have a five day cycle if they are not pregnant on the first cycle. This research explains why this is so, and identifies the actual stimulating agent. Worth a read if you are interested in this area.http://www.nature.com/news/male-scent-stimulates-female-goats-fertility-1.14788

March 12,2014. Performance recording with kidplan.Both our bucks Barney and Bart are performance recorded with Kidplan. This means their genetic performance values are measured in association with their genetic relationships and they can be compared with other bucks and checked out on the Kidplan website.If you would like to get a running start with performance recording, Colin Ramsay from the farm where the Buck Trial is being undertaken at Cootamundra NSW, is offering for sale, 100 of his mixed age kidplan recorded does. This is a unique opportunity as there would be very few breeders in Australia who could offer a group of does like this. If you are interested, have a talk to Colin on 0417404799

February 28, 2014. Thinking about joining your does? We are offering two of our top sires for sale. One is Barney, and the other is Bart. Go to the Boer goats for sale page for details.

Here is Barney, one of the senior sires at Cadenza Boers.

February 13, 2014. Here are some of the young kids from the last drop. Hope you enjoy the slideshow.

February 12, 2014. Going into goats......do your homework or lose a lot of money and goats.In this diary I try to discuss items that improve goat management and hopefuly save breeders time and money. This is one of the most important things I have to say. If you are thinking of going into goats you must do your homework or be prepared to lose a lot of money and many nights of sleep. First look to the right of this column and read the 10 essentials to start a goat breeding business. They are just the beginning...read on if you dare!Generally speaking, people new to farming have no idea just how much work farming is and they think that goat breeding will be pretty quick to learn. Most people think the goats will grow, have kids, survive and thrive under their care, and then they will be able to sell them at good prices. This belief is strong even when the new goat owners actually have little or no knowledge of the fundamentals of breeding, caring for goats, or marketing their animals.Here is what I say to potential goat breeders. I ask them what is your profession? Many people I speak to are highly intelligent and have very responsible professions/occupations. The second thing I ask them is how long did it take you to become really proficient at your work? They usually say something like about five or ten years. I then advise them that it will take at least this long to become a half decent goat breeder. And, that is the truth. Many people go into goats, spend a lot of money on infrastructure, some buy good goats, and some buy cheap goats that are not suitable. However my experience is that more than 50% do not make it past three years. The major reason they do not make it is because they have not been clear what they are getting into when they first buy goats. They often treat it as a bit of a hobby and do not dedicate the time and resources required to be successful.I do not want to scare potential breeders from going into goats. What I really want is for people to go into breeding goats with their eyes wide open and a realistic understanding of the time, knowledge, and effort it takes to successfully raise goats. They are such wonderful animals, they deserve to be cared for by kind, knowledgeable and realistic breeders. If you are reading this, I do hope you are one of the great breeders of the future.

February 10, 2014. Measuring performance of your herd.Below is a link to a really interesting paper on how to measure performance of your does. Well worth a look. Just eye-balling animals for production is not really good enough these days, so have a look and see what you think/uploads/3/4/3/2/34324530/tsu_performance_fact_sheet_col.pdf

February 5, 2014. Those bad old does!Each year I have several kids who receive injuries due to
does hooking at them when they are just too close, or trying to sneak a drink,
or competing for feed.I have three
kids at the moment with serious injuries all caused by the one doe.While it is natural for does to love their own kids and put
other kids “in their place” some does are just over the top in aggression
towards other kids, and sometimes other does as well.These aggressive does are a risk to the whole herd and in
reality for a farmed goat enterprise, they need to be moved “closer to goat
heaven”.I have seen does, for no reason other than the other goat is
in view, to run at another doe or kid and just smash them into the wall or into
the ground.Not nice.However the damage they do to the kids is
more likely to be a damaged hip, leg, or shoulder as they hook them into the
air with their horns.What can be done.If you are not ready to send the doe “away” and you need to hand feed,
consider these management options.Spread feed out as broadly as possible so animals are not forced to
battle for food.This may mean
multiple troughs rather than a few fancy ones.If you have clean areas and you are feeding large pellets, or
hay, spread this out as widely as possible so there is not so much
animal-to-animal contact.Make sure your sheds are long, open in the front, and there
is plenty of room for everybody.This
gives animals a chance to escape.Put escape benches in the sheds for the kids.The kids can get under these benches and not be harassed by the
does.Try not to have small areas where
the kids can get into and then smother each other because it is hard to get
out.Give in, put the bully doe and her kids into a separate area
and keep the peace.

February 3, 2014. Check out this website for research articles. Check out this website for research and for a nice description of how to measure condition in your goats. Most breeders have difficulty keeping condition on goats because of their high productivity. Show goats that are heavily fed, or goats that do nothing to produce may get too fat, but generally it is loss of weight that is the big problem for goats. Correct condition score is between 2.5 and 3.5. How do your goats stack up? Remember a big stomach is not a fat goat. Check out this web-site for video.www.luresext.edu/goats/research/bcshowto.html

January 21, 2014. Now the heat is over (for the time being anyway).The blast of heat in Victoria lasted days and absolutely dried the grass to a crisp. This means we are very vulnerable to any fires that happen to crop up. In another "diary" last year I discussed managing the goats when fire threatens. Today I am more interested in finding the right feed for the does with young kids at foot. While the big heat didn't worry the goats too much, already I can see the effects of the reduction of nutrition in the standing feed. The does suddenly began to look for any blade of green grass and they have just started to drop their condition more rapidly. It is quite normal for a high milk producing doe to lose weight while she has kids at foot. The best does then put that weight back on as their milk production reduces, ready for the next joining season.Around here, pretty well all the grass is crisp and white. That means the goats can get plenty of roughage, but not enough protein and energy. I have begun to feed the does with kids, grain cubes, and if I can get them at the right price, would like to introduce some lupins or lucerne or other good high protein feed. Goats can convert dry feed into good quality nutrition if they have some protein to feed the converting microbes. I like molasses as a high energy feed for the goats. It is cheap, highly nutritious, the goats love it.........but what a mess they make of themselves and each other. So be prepared for sticky goats if you feed it in open troughs.The older goats are doing just fine with one kid at foot, they are losing a bit of weight with two kids at foot. The maiden does are o.k. with one kid, but they are struggling to produce enough milk for two kids. The same goes for the kids. Best conditioned kids are single kids on older does, worst conditioned kids are twins on maiden does. This is the time to carefully look at how good the does are at producing prime kids, and how fast they can regain their weight after raising kids.

January 14, 2014. It is 39 degrees and rising. Today is very, very hot, and it will be very hot all this week. This means early morning rounds to check all is well, plenty of water and plenty of shade and feed for the goats. There are no young kids or heavily pregnant does to worry about so they should all cope pretty well. Even the bucks "in rut" are taking time off from their hormone driven battles.However, I do think about the native animals during such intense weather. On occasions in the past it has been so hot, that possums have dropped dead out of the trees, or in despair come down out of the trees during the day to look for water. The birds congregate around water points and try to keep cool.So on days like today, I put out extra water dishes in strategic places so everyone at least gets a chance to have a drink. I place escape branches or logs in all the troughs, so that any foolish bird that happens to fall in the water while trying to get a drink, can escape after a "ducking". It is a sad sight to see drowned birds in the troughs, and it is not nice for the quality of the drinking water either.Fingers crossed that we do not have fires accompanying the hot weather. There are several relatively safe areas on the farm where goats will be taken if things turn bad. As all the goats will end up very close to each other if fire threatens, there may be a few unplanned pregnancies in about five months. Let's hope it doesn't get to that. I hope you and all your animals are safe in this weather.

April 22, 2013. Time for some humor.

For those of you who have visited Cadenza Boers, this image will be very familiar...and guess who the "hoon" is?Hmmm must comb my hair more often.

Thanks to Jeff Brewer for his great work.

April 30, 2013. Worms on the march or should I say wriggle!This is the time of year when previously sub-clinical problems start to be evident in the Boer goat herd. As the cold bites, the nutrition that the pasture provides is decreasing, the worm burden rises because of moisture availability for hatching larvae, and any deficiencies in nutrition are magnified. One thing that all goat breeders should be able to do is to "condition score" their goats. Most times we aim for our goats to be in condition score three or higher. Does with kids at foot usually lose condition because of the big effort required to feed two kids as well as maintain themselves. We try not to let does get below condition score 2.5 as this leaves them open to cold stress and other immune related issues. It also means they will be in low body condition to join to the bucks. Check out the site below to understand condition scoring: http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/agriculture/animals-and-livestock/goats/assessment-skills-for-goat-meat-marketingFor worm related issues for each State, we suggest you subscribe to the sheep Worm Boss site, and particularly for us in Victoria, Patricia Veale writes a summary of what is happening with worms and also discusses the results of worm tests coming in to the test labs. This month she has written about coccidiosis and how it is a problem especially with young stock at the moment. While the site deals with sheep, you can be pretty sure this information will also be relevant to goats. Check it out.http://www.wormboss.com.au/news/outlooks/vic.php

March 30th, 2013.The unpaid workers

Ted at the back, and Lucy in front. Great mates.

Ted and Lucy are the working dogs here, but also great mates, lovely temperaments, and a great pleasure to have. They are both soft on the goats, but because it is not really natural for them to bark, sometimes they need to give difficult goats (specially the bucks) a hurry up by slipping in a "quick nip". Ted and Lucy are short-haired Border Collies. I like Border Collies because they are softer, and not as "over the top" as some other working breeds so I can manage them better. I like their short coats because it keeps them cooler, but it also keeps them cleaner and mud free. Ted is actually a better working dog than Lucy, however Lucy is starting to catch up with him in managing the goats, but in a different way. She is highly intelligent and is happy to please. Ted "the cool one" has recovered from his little "operation" but there is no doubt he is slowing down, and Lucy is becoming the main dog, with Ted supervising the action. Advice: when you buy a working dog, buy from a reputable breeder. The initial cost is nothing compared to the costs of keeping a dog for its lifetime. A good dog will repay the initial cost, thousands of times over.

April 14, 2013. The buck kids are not happy. The third group of buck kids has now been weaned. They are not happy and nor are their mothers. While I would like to have left them on their mothers for a little longer, they were really into chasing the does and "whooping" all day. The question arises, what is the best way to do the weaning? I like to leave the newly weaned kids in the shed for a day or two so they get used to being away from their mothers, and the mothers reduce their calling for them. I often reduce the stress of weaning by allowing the mothers to visit their kids and sleep in the pen next to them for two or three days. This seems to comfort everyone and the kids settle better. It is not good practise to send the newly weaned kids off to an unfamiliar paddock as they will be stressed and often try to find their way back to their mothers. They must be kept warm, dry, and well fed over the early weaning days to give them the best chance of thriving. I feed the kids a chaff/lucerne chaff mix or some good quality hay, and some pellets. This fills their rumen with a lot of good feed with high roughage, so the kids are warm and have full bellies. I like to move the does away from the kids, rather than the does seeing their kids taken away from them. It seems less stressful for them as they know where the kids are. After weaning day, I drench the kids, weigh them, electronic tag them, tip their horns, and vaccinate if needed. Often these things are done over a couple of visits to the shearing shed rather than all at once. I also cast my eye over the kids to see if any show real potential as stud bucks. Today out of about 45 kids, I picked 6 buck kids showing potential. When I checked their breeding, I noticed most were singles, and most were by the one sire. So am I selecting primarily based on size and bloom because they were better fed, or am I really able to pick the better kids at this early age? While I hear various breeders say they can pick a champion at birth, I am a bit skeptical. What I often see is breeders taking a special interest in these kids and feeding them better than the other kids. This is called a self fulfilling prophecy because they grow better and look better because of better nutrition. The way to pick a real champion is to give all kids the same chance to grow, and the champion will emerge over time. There is no doubt better does throw better kids, but that is not the whole story.

March 29th 2013. The second worst job for a goatkeeper.There is a time when the older does are having problems keeping their weight on. My experience is that this time comes from about the age of eight years on, and is often related to how productive the doe has been in her breeding years. Those does who consistently produce triplets and are big milkers seem to be the first affected. While it might be expected the front teeth are an indication of wear of teeth and therefore difficulty eating, the does here seem to eventually have problem with their grinding teeth. This means they cannot "cud" properly and therefore the food is not properly prepared for digestion. The loss of these teeth may well be the result of the massive pull on calcium over their production years. While the does themselves are still active and running with the herd, they do not seem able to put back condition after they have raised their last lot of kids. This is a real problem with winter coming as they become too thin and cannot keep warm.What to do with these does. Eventually for all animals there comes a time when we need to take the responsibility of ending their life humanely. Personally, while the doe is happy and able to keep up with the herd, I am happy for her to continue. However the Boers in particular, have no tolerance for weak animals in their group. While I did not see this in the Angoras, the Boers will intentionally seek out the weak goat, attack it, and try to force it from the herd. This is a sensible thing to do from the herd's point of view as it may reduce attacks from predators. From the poor goat's point of view, what was once a comfortable place in the herd now becomes a misery. The other goats will often not let the weak doe into shelter, will intentionally "thump" her whenever they get the chance, and will actually try to chase her away. I recently "put down" several of the old does here (9, 10, and 11y.o.). I never send these old does off to slaughter on the truck. They have given me everything and I cannot bear the thought of them being so stressed at the end of their life. For any owner to just allow an animal to die in the paddock because they don't take responsibility for the animals welfare, is a despicable act and they should not own animals. The most humane way to put down a goat is to shoot it. However the way to shoot a goat is very specific and must be done by a knowledgeable person. The following link talks about the CODE OF PRACTICE FOR GOAT WELFARE and the basics of caring for goats, but if you look at Section 9, it gives you instructions for THE HUMANE DESTRUCTION OF GOATS.http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/agriculture/about-agriculture/legislation-regulation/animal-welfare-legislation/codes-of-practice-animal-welfare/accepted-farming-practice-goatsWhile kids may be shot from the front of the head,( as for cattle), by directing the shot at a point of intersection of lines taken from the base of each ear to the opposite eye (see Figure 2). THIS METHOD IS NOT SUITABLE IN MATURE GOATS, as the brain is located well back in the skull compared with other livestock.Putting down old does is the second worst job for a goat-keeper, putting down baby kids is the worst. I will try and make the next note in the diary a happier story!

March 26th 2013. Husbandry issues. Infected ears.One of the issues that occurs in a small percentage of kids, is the problem of necrosis of the hole around the tag pin. The major reason for smelly skin around the pin hole is that insufficient air can get to the hole to enable it to heal properly. When tagging animals it is very important to keep equipment clean. I always dip the tag and applicator in disinfectant between kids, and am meticulous not to touch the pin head of the tag with my dirty fingers. The tag must be inserted in the correct position on the ear as well. Even given all these precautions a few kids ears do not heal up well. Sometimes I spray this with a healing spray, however for the worst of them, I just cut out the tag and replace it when the hole has healed. Because the kids are double tagged I can still identify them even with one tag cut out. Part of the reason the tag hole does not heal well is because the shank of the tag is too short and the Boer goat's ear is quite thick. This means the plastic of the tag on each side of the ear is too close together and restricts air flow. Manufacturers don't appear to see this as an issue. However I note that the electronic round PIC tags have a longer, slightly thinner shank, and I very rarely have any problems with these tags. This year to try to reduce problems caused by the normal plastic tags, I actually whittled down the inside tag area by slicing off a large piece of the tag on both sides of the pin before inserting the tag into the ear. This allows much more air to flow around the puncture hole. I have found the ear seems to heal up much more quickly with the extra air flow. The electronic tags will be inserted soon, and it is at this time a close inspection of the birth tag takes place, so after this I can confirm whether or not my perceptions are true.PS. No matter how careful you are doing the job, it is not a nice job tagging kids.......

March 20 2013. The bucks are "smelly" and the does are "waggy" time of year. While the breeding season was a little slow to get going this year, probably because it was so dry, all the goats really want to get the fertilization process going! While some animal species have an all year round breeding season, goats are particularly stimulated by the shortening of daylight hours. That means from about January to July is the prime joining season. I can assure you, at the moment, the does are ready and the bucks are willing, however I am stalling the process for a little while longer as I do not want kids born in the very cold weather. While goats will often join outside the prime season, especially if bucks and does have been kept isolated from each other, you will start to see the bucks reduce their spraying, and the does reduce their cycling behaviour after about July August (as the days start to get longer). It is important to understand the effect of the daylight hours on fertility. I have heard breeders, especially inexperienced ones, talk about their buck being infertile because they put him with the does but there were no kids five or so months later. I ask them what time of year did you put him with the does, and did the does cycle? Quite often they have not observed the does cycling but assumed the buck was infertile. The buck will not get a non cycling doe pregnant, no matter how hard he tries. Additionally, does in milk with kids at foot very often will not cycle until their milk supply is reducing. It is a rare thing for a buck to be infertile so check to see if your does are cycling before blaming the buck.

Another important management requirement is to purchase a new buck well before you want him to join your does. Goats usually find being moved to another property very stressful. The new buck may take some time to settle and to recover from the trauma of moving homes before he will take an interested in joining does. So aim to give him at least 4 to 6 weeks to settle. Weanable size kids need to be removed from the paddock while the bucks are serving the does, as otherwise the doe kids are at risk of becoming pregnant. Once Boer buck and doe kids are over approx 25kgs they are close to becoming fertile. Doe kids in particular are at high risk of becoming pregnant and if they do, it will be a very dangerous thing for both them and the kids they are carrying. These does are at high risk for pregnancy toxemia, malnutrition, abortion, as well as having stunted growth themselves and also their kids if they survive. The message is, manage the kidding so your animals kid at the proper time and at the proper body weight and condition. Happy kidding.

February 26 2013. Summer is tough on the does and kids. It is a while since I wrote about the does and kids as we were "full on" preparing for the Breeders A.I. program (written about elsewhere). This summer has been really tough on the does as the paddock feed has turned to dry straw with very little nutrition, and therefore the does are producing less milk for their kids. The difference between the few yearling does who did not kid, the yearling does who had only one kid, and the yearling does who have been feeding twins, is an absolute lesson to me on the high nutritional needs of a lactating doe. The non kidders on paddock feed are body score 3 to 4. The does with single kids are body score 2.5 to 3. The poor young does feeding twins are struggling to keep a condition score of 2 to 2.5. When conditions are as dry as this, it is essential to provide some supplementary feed so the kids keep growing (they are eating supplements now and competing with their mothers) and the does do not become too thin as this will affect them for a long time, and they may not be in good enough body condition for joining.The good news is that we recently had some rain, and there is more to come. What a relief from the threat of bush-fires, and the positive of some good Autumn growth before the winter. Things are looking good in the longer term, but it is just a little too early to stop feeding supplements just yet. I am currently feeding a vetch, oat mix hay, and some cubes to the does with kids at foot. The dry does are coping well on just dry paddock feed. Hope your goats are doing well.

January 31, 2013. Does...love their own, tough on others. Who gets the hay?Two things I would like to mention today as I hand feed the does with cubes and hay.The first is to try to spread out feed over a wide area as the does can be quite aggressive to other does and their kids. They will quite often thump them to the ground if they get in the way, or more dangerously, they will hook the kids with their horns. Either of these things can cause severe injuries to kids, and specially if the does hook the back leg of a kid and dislocate the hip or tear the tendons of the leg. The most practical thing to do is to feed in as wide an area as possible, and in particular to not use single feeding stations as a means of feeding the whole herd.The second issue is also related to goat behaviour. Most guidelines to goat management will advise breeders to keep hay off the ground in hay racks. This is so that it keeps clean and reduces the opportunity of goats to pick up worms. While this is very good advice for small breeders with a few animals, it is not very practical when larger numbers of goats are to be fed hay. Normal goat behaviour will mean that the dominant animals will stay at the feeder and consume large quantities of feed, and even when they are "stuffed" full, they often will not let the shy goats near the feeder. The end result is that the breeder will have say 30% of their goats big and fat, the next 50% will be getting sufficient to keep them going, while the bottom 20% will be starving to death. When I am feeding hay to large numbers of does, I may put some in a hay rack, but I spread the remainder over as large an area as is practical. I then know all animals will at least get some hay, even if a percentage is wasted due to soiling etc.Be warned, goats are fussy eaters. Buy really good quality hay as poor quality hay will be used as a toilet and sof bedding, and be a waste of money. Ask to trial a bale with the goats first before you buy quantities.

January 25th 2013.Fires in the area and Teddy goes to hospital. For the past week or so there has been a large fire in the hills about 30 - 40 minutes from here. While we are all pretty familiar with the requirements for making our homes as fire-safe as possible e.g. slashing, cleaning spouting, fire pumps ready etc. the question of how best to protect the animals if a fire comes through the property is less clear. Two major questions need to be considered. Which are the safest places to put the goats and when is the time to move them to these paddocks. For example, the barest paddocks and therefore the safest paddocks are closest to the house but there is very little feed there, especially for the does with kids at foot. While it is not an issue to hand feed all of them for a relatively short time, it is not very practical to do this over several weeks. The same for the bucks. The other thing to consider is that the separate mobs would need to be joined together to be in the safest paddocks. This would really upset the order of things as, for a time, there would be considerable friction between the groups and this may result in kids being hurt and fighting between the adults. The need to join the buck groups into one group will be much more of a battle as the "boy" groups will really want to reset the pecking order and a lot of fighting and mounting behaviour will take place.So the more practical thing to do is to wait until there is a prediction of fire reaching the area and moving the animals immediately. This is well and good in theory, but a friend of mine got an unexpected "emergency call" at 3am in the morning. He tried to move his goat herd to a safe place but it was dark and goats are not that easy to move in the dark. He had to modify his plan and put them in the closest place he could that offered more protection. Fortunately the fire did not come on to his property although it did get very close. Fingers crossed for the safey of everyone today as it is a threatening day. The predictions have been made as to where the fires will go if they breach the containment lines and that does not include this area.Teddy the old working dog was really ill the other day with an obvious "pain the the belly". Last year he was treated for some blood in his urine so I was concerned this was something to do with that. I took him to the vet and the prognosis was that Ted had a very enlarged prostate, and an infection, and a high temperature related to this. He was in dog hospital for two days to get the infection under control, and poor Teddy, after owning them for so long, he had to be desexed to reduce the testosterone levels. This apparently is all it takes to reduce the size of the prostate. He is now home, just a little lighter, and doing well. He is on reduced duties for a while now.

January 12, 2013. Spoilt poddy does make themselves at home wherever they are. Six of these are for sale.

The poddy does from last year are the most likely to get into trouble. On the other hand they are great fun and will follow their owner wherever they are.

Lucy at work. Lucy has the respect of the goats, even the poddy goats.

Lucy (the pup) has developed into the sweetest natured dog, and is a pretty good worker as well. What a pleasure to have a well bred working dog with wonderful temperament.

PAST TRAINING The intensive practical goat husbandry day has now been held (on 12th May). With six very motivated breeders, we practised catching, holding, and moving goats, drenching, vaccinating, foot trimming, weighing, condition scoring, tagging, and lots of other areas of goat breeding were covered in discussion. A big thank you for a really enjoyable day, and special thanks to our co-presenter Chris Lamin, who as well as giving us her broad 30+ goat experience, also offered us a lovely lunch and goodies. Pictures of our "adventures" see left.

Thee A.I. programs have been run!**Absolutely high class intensive A.I. programs have now been run over the weekend of 9th/10th Feb. Great training by Peter Lynch who specially came over from NZ, enthusiastic participants, some who traveled from NSW, and good fun along the way. All of the participants successfully inseminated a number of does, they learned how to correctly time the AI, collect semen, extend it, use both fresh and frozen semen, and correctly inseminate it into does. Some photos of the stages are included below. Thank you to everyone involved.

Checking for the position of the cervix

Inseminating doe

Checking quality of the semen

Equipment

A.V.

Inseminating doe

extending semen

The Goat breeders diary 2012 entriesFor previous entries in the diary, please go to the next page of the web site or press the following link.

Cadenza young bucks sired by Rocky and The Fonz. Several have been used as sires this year so watch out for their kids

Twin sisters. Beautiful and cute. One has too much colour but everyone loves her. For more information on heritability of colour see the article on colour on the Serious Goat Breeder page. You will then understand why we get kids with this extension of colour

Kids learning to drive!

WE OFFER A CONSULTANCY SERVICEFor breeders who feel they need more personalised assistance in setting up their goat breeding program, we offer a consultancy service. In addition a goat farm and/or goat assessment service is available for those who would like an opinion on the direction they are heading, and how they are managing their goats. These services are offered on an hourly rate plus travel expenses. Please feel free to talk to us about our consultancy services...no obligation.

Want to be successful breeding Boer Goats?Important for those thinking about going into goats is the basic information FAQ publication (see faqsjan2010.pdf file below).This is a publication distributed by the Boer Goat Breeders Association and written by Judith Daloisio from Ghin Ghin Boers and Carole Axton from Cadenza Boers.

The Boer Goat Breeders Association of Australia

The BGBAA was founded in 1996 after the release of the first Boer Goats from the quarantine base in South Australia. The founding members of the Association Geof and Celia Burnett-Smith were the managers of the overall project and the quarantine station. Together with the State Government of South Australia they took the plan to fruititon with the first Boer Goats to be released from Quarantine in 1995. Geof and Celia are still involved in the Boer Goat industry today. They own andmanage the famous Terraweena Boer Goat Stud, and work in partnership with McGregors Boer Goat Stud with the nomenclature TerraMac.. BGBAA Victoria. Each State of Australia has its own Branch of the Federal Association. Victoria has a very active Branch with a bi-monthly newsletter to its members and an excellent website with all backcopies of the publications. You can access the Victorian Site http://www.bgbaavictoria.com.auThe newsletters are at the Victorian website:http://www.bgbaavictoria.com.au/index.php/newslettersNew: Publications for breedersAttached below are two links for practical goat breeding. One of these manuals is specially written for goat breeding in the tropical regions and has been written for Malaysian conditions. It can be found at (Please note: this link has temporarily been removed because it has links to malware.)Information is also available about the Australian conditions Manual "Going into Goats" at the Meat and Livestock website This manual covers many of the areas required for successful goat breeding. Both of these manuals have a number of very detailed modules and are very important publications. Check outwww.mla.com.au/research-development/extension-and-training/going-into-goatsNew: See new notes on secrets to successful goat breeding "feeding" on the "information and husbandry page".Will be added to on a regular basis. Follow this link /information-and-husbandry.htmlNew: Please see the new page section "For the serious goat breeder" - this provides more technical notes on various aspects of breeding. Follow this link /for-the-serious-goat-breeder.html

Cadenza CA1FD0051 new doe kid by Cadenza Bart. August 2012

The training day at Cadenza Boers has now been held (on Sunday 29, July 2012), it was a very successful day. Thanks to those who took the time to attend with some travelling four hours to get there. The goats were well behaved and everyone seemed to "fall in love" with the six month old weaned bottle fed kids. Some new breeders getting ready to "go into Boer goats" had a chance to talk about fencing, husbandry, and marketing goats, and to have some hands on practise, including foot trimming.

August 11, 2012. Latest newsletter from BGBAA Victoria and NSW. While the August newsletter file is attached below, all the newsletters can be found at the BGBAA Victorian site: Check them out to answer lots of questions on lots of topics.http://www.bgbaavictoria.com.au/index.php/newsletters

January 10, 2013. The bucks and does are getting restless.

Like most of Australia, it has been very hot and dry here for several weeks. While there is plenty of it, the grass has dried to a crisp. What this means is there is very little nutrition in the grass and the goats are seeking out protein in the way of anything green and moist. Goats are very good at converting dry feed to a suitable level of nutrition through the microbes in their rumen, however even this has its limitations and some form of supplementation is needed on most properties at this time of year. This is specially so if the does still have kids at foot. Some people use by-pass proteins like urea in blocks or feed, others feed products such as lucerne, lupins, or grain based feeds etc. But what I really wanted to mention is this is the time of year that goats have a motivation to wander looking for greener pick. I have noticed that the goats are testing the fences more at the moment, looking for wombat holes in particular, and this is the result of their search for nutrition to suit their needs. The other variable is the electric fences are not as well earthed in the very dry conditions of summer and so the efficiency of the fence to give a shock to the goats is reduced. Also, I have been turning off my electric fencing on high fire risk days to minimise the risk of a short in the fence starting a fire. So with all these factors in mind it is worth keeping an extra close eye on what your goats are up to during the day.

The second thing I wanted to mention is that my bucks are in full "rutting" mode and have been for the past few weeks. This is quite a dangerous time for bucks running in groups as they can catch their leg in the horn of another buck and sometimes they cannot get it out. Once this season I had to physically untangle a pair of bucks who could not manage to separate themselves. This is why it is a serious issue to avoid breeding bucks with horns set too close to the neck and horns too close together on the poll. It is not just an aesthetic issue, it is a life and death issue for fighting bucks. p.s. the bucks are running themselves silly fighting and sparring with each other, so may also need additional nutrition to keep in good condition.

Our thoughts are with all those who have been and are still being threatened with fire........we all hope you and your goat friends come through it safely.

January 5, 2013. What a scorcher! Animal Welfare issues. The last time I wrote it had been hot, but yesterday was seriously, seriously hot. It reached 44 degrees here and was over 40 for much of the day. The goats coped admirably. While quite a few sought shelter under trees and round dams etc., many of the others continued to graze in the open paddocks. All kids were o.k. as they are now old enough to find their way around and they are familiar with shelter, water, and shade etc. I sometimes hear people say that goats do not need water or shade. This is not true and all goats need to be provided with clean, cool water and shade always. These uninformed beliefs cause untold distress to our animals. For example I read a veterinary report where a vet was called to a goat who had stopped eating and was unwell. The goat died and when they opened it up to find out what the problem was, they found the intestines absolutely stuffed with newspaper and cardboard. When they asked the owners what they fed the goat, they confirmed paper was the only thing they fed their goat as they thought "goats will eat anything". Personally I think people who are not experienced in animal management should attend a basic animal management course run by experienced breeders before buying animals. We need a licence to drive cars and boats etc., however keeping and breeding animals is much more complex than this but there is no protection for the animals from unintentional mismanagement, (not to mention the distress it causes the owners when their animals get sick and die). I wish such a course had been available before I bought my first animals. I have over the years, specially the first few years of breeding, killed quite a number of goats through my ignorance, that should not have died. I hope we can do it better for both the goats and their owners in 2013. We want everyone to be successful.

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